Birthday Dinner

Today was my 50th birthday but I really celebrated my 50th with my Burg group this past weekend. Tonight some from the group got together for a more casual, relaxed dinner, mostly because our friend Peter Wasserman was in town.

• 1989 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

  Very ripe fruit aromas that comes across as very fresh for its age. Also lush and concentrated on palate, also still fresh. Drinking very well, held up nicely in glass.

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• 2002 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées Clos de la Truffière Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Very tired.

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• 2004 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Rich aromas of apple and pear with a slightly sweet, spiced character. Great textures, great energy from start-to-finish. Pops on finish. Very impressive for its level.

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• 2005 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Lots of sulfur, never really blew off, impossible to enjoy.

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• 2008 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Robust ripe apple aromas, good spice, slight tropical fruit hints. Very fresh and vibrant on palate, showing apple and pear with clove and allspice. Great minerality from middle to finish.

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• 2002 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée 83 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Very advanced and marginally enjoyable. Better than another bottle from earlier this year that was totally uninteresting and seemed heat damaged. Both were from the same source.

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• 2005 Domaine Morey-Coffinet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Very fresh and energetic. Good apple and pear coming through on nose and palate. Moderate length and finesse. Good now.

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• 2002 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Dent de Chien 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Best to describe this wine as consistently inconsistent, and this bottle was in the middle of my recent experiences. Good density and concentration, just older than it should be at this point in its evolution.

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• 2006 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Dent de Chien 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Slightly floral, very ripe fruit, showing apple and peach with some roasted walnuts and toasted brioche. Similarly lush and powerful on palate, very charming and most likely at its peak over the next 4-5 years.

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• 1996 Domaine René Engel Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Brulées Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Way too much brett, making this basically undrinkable.

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• 2007 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Lots of fresh red cherry aromas and flavors, modest hints of baking spice. Short finish, slightly simple, this has some earthy character already starting to emerge. A Brulees to enjoy young.

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• 1998 Domaine Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Charming red fruit aromas equally balanced with earthy elements and good brown baking spice. Some barnyard hints. Similar on palate. Moderate length. At its peak now.

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• 2000 Domaine Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Mature red and black cherry aromas, slightly more red on palate. Some delicate mushroom character equally prominent. easy to enjoy but lighter styled and simple.

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• 2000 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Interesting array of cherry aromas and flavors. Forward fruit combines well with mushroom elements starting to emerge. Good spice, more on nose than palate. In its peak drinking window.

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• 1998 Nicolas Potel Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Petits Monts Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Seemed like something was fundamentally wrong with this wine. Terrible, undrinkable.

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• 2007 Domaine Dominique Mugneret Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Mostly red cherry with strawberry with slight spice in background. Simple from very accessible and enjoyable now. Gives good Vosne character.

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• 2000 Henri et Gilles Remoriquet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Au-dessus des Malconsorts 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  I don't think I have ever had this wine before. A very good example of how successful 2000s are performing today. Accessible, soft and showing a good balance of red fruit and mushroom character. Just moderately spiced, this didn't come across as classically "Malconsorts" to me, but still easy to enjoy in its peak drinking window today.

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• 2002 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Lots of red cherry with some raspberry hints. Massive, enticing spice on nose and palate. Long, lean and expanding into finish. An exciting wine today that will continue to improve with more time in the cellar. I'm glad I have 3 or 4 bottles stashed away.

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• 2009 Maison Albert Bichot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Malconsorts Domaine du Clos Frantin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Lush and powerful with plenty of red and black cherry aromas and flavors. Dense, firm and somewhat backward for right now, this will need some quiet time in the cellar over the next 15+ years to really show Vosne charm and Malconsorts character.

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